Crystallized Dreams
by Linnay
Summary: ONESHOT. SIGNS OF BOY BOY. He has been asleep for longer than mere centuries, friends lost in time forgotten but he will find new friends to cherish and hold dear...


**Disclaimers: **I do not own any of the characters or elements from either universe. They all belong to J.K. Rowling or Square Enix. I lay no claim to either franchise. This is purely written for my own enjoyment and I make no money of it.

**Summary: **He has been asleep for longer than mere centuries, friends lost in time forgotten but he will find new friends to cherish and hold dear. ..

**Pairings: **Hope+Harry, background mention of Snow/Serah.

**Warnings: Oneshot**(it's bit too long to be called a drabble, which is what it started out as). **S****igns of boyxboy **if you look close enough. This takes place just after Hope has received his Eidolon, so I'm also adding a **spoiler alert** here for those who haven't finished the game. I won't explain every term that has to do with the game. It would ruin the flow, or whatever flow I have going in there. I suggest if you really want to know everything, then you look them up in the Final Fantasy Wiki page. That's where I got all of my info outside of actually playing the game (Which I haven't finished btw – because my baby brother is hogging the game console! I don't care if it's _his_. Ever heard of sharing?) This has **not been beta read**.

**Author's note: **This is nothing special really, just a little plot bunny that's been eating way at my brain the last few weeks and kept me busy. There will not be a continuation to this. I just wanted to see this scene played out on paper instead of just in my head.

Crystallized Dreams

* * *

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

Dr. Seuss , American Writer, 1904-1991.

* * *

They had taken it upon themselves to form a base camp in Vallis Media, the location providing reasonable shelter and protection from the wild life of Gran Pulse. Gran Pulse, a massive world so incredibly larger than their home, Cocoon, that it made the floating orb in the sky seem like a small house or cottage and the world below being the huge back garden. It would take Hope a long time to fully comprehend the sheer size of it and even then he was unsure whether he truly ever would.

Hope was a fourteen-year-old boy and incidentally the youngest of the group. He lay on his back on one of the makeshift beds consisting of a patch of isolation quilt they'd found from the leftovers of scrap and junk of the long lost civilization of Gran Pulse. He had his hand held up in front of his face, the back of his wrist turned towards him. A small dark yellow piece of fabric was tied around it, above his glove, but despite that he could see the mark peeking out from beneath it. His pale green eyes held a troubled look that made its way onto the rest of his features.

The brand of a l'Cie. The mark of a curse; condemning them to the destiny of either completing their Focus and being put in crystal sleep or run out of time and turn into a Cieth, a monster. Completing their Focus seemed to be the only option, the lesser of the two evils, if it did not mean that Hope, they all, would have to destroy their home Cocoon. They were determined to find another way, because it had to be another way and believing anything else was a too devastating a fact to even think about.

Vanille, the only one along with Fang of their group originating from Pulse and who had woken up from centuries spent in crystal sleep on Cocoon, had suggested they'd go to Oerba; the females' old home. This they would do in hope of finding an answer; a solution or way of removing their brands. They'd have to see what they would find there.

It worried Hope though that they would have to follow a fal'Cie, the reason for their predicament, to get to Oerba. Apparently a fal'Cie resided not far from the village but what would they do if they encountered it? Fight it? Like they'd done with Barthandelus and Anima?

The rustling of clothes made Hope lower his arm and look to the side. Sazh, the oldest of the group, were standing up and stretching his aching muscles from lying on the hard ground. Was it morning already? Slowly the rest of the group woke from their sleep, the sun's rays shining against the cliff wall on the opposite side of the ravine beside them, their camp yet still cast in the shadows. Vanille shook off her slumber with a sigh and a small smile, while Lightening came back to the group from her watch point.

She eyed them, eyes lingering on Hope for an extra second. Did she know he'd been awake most of the night?

"Let's go." She said.

Hope was aware of her concern for him. That concern had been one of the causes for his anxiety that led to his Eidolon appearing just a few days ago. In the beginning they'd thought them to be creatures that were sent to 'liberate' them from their suffering or do them away when they couldn't complete their Focus. Lightening had offered another thought though, not wanting to believe that. She came with the idea that the Eidolons were in fact there to help them when they were about to give up, to guide them towards the right road.

He liked that idea better. It served to comfort him somewhat and the huge figure of Alexander, his Eidolon, now added a sense of security and means of being able to protect the ones he loved and cared about. A small hope in their grave situation. Maybe with the help of Alexander he could, after all, be of some help to the others, despite himself not being strong enough.

The Archylte Steppe, a massive expanse of land that served as the home to many of pulse's wildlife. Some larger (very!) than others, they made sure to stay far away from the huge as seven and ten storey high creatures that roamed the plane. One stomp with those legs would surely spell the end for even the collected strength of the group. No, they did better to keep themselves to the smaller populations. Pick someone, or in this case something, of their own size, so to speak.

Crossing the Steppe from south to the east, while not passing it straight across, proved to take a good while. The day had already passed well into the afternoon when the party decided to set up camp for the night. Only problem though, they couldn't spot a decent spot anywhere around where they would safely be able to sleep. Sazh and Lightening were in the middle of discussing whether they would try and climb up one of the rock formations littering the Steppe, while Hope began to stray a bit from the others, still curious of his new surroundings.

He shuffled his feat along the dirt and grass clad ground, squatting down to inspect a small orange flower when his eyes spotted a strange dent in the rock wall. Hope stretched and tilted his head, trying to get a better look. Throwing a look over his shoulder, Hope made his way over to the wall and was surprised to see a small vertical opening in the rock, probably barely big enough to fit Snow's larger build.

Curiously he made to take a step inside when Vanille's voice jolted him from behind.

"What are you doing?"

Hope made a noise in the back of his throat, alerting the others.

"Vanille!" He gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I wasn't sneaking." The girl pouted and then peered into the small opening. "A cave?" She asked aloud.

"Cave?" Snow's towering height came over them and peered over their heads.

"You think we could use it to set camp for the night, perhaps?" Sazh questioned, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I don't think so." Lightening said, crossing her arms.

"Looks safe though." Snow said. "There's even light coming from inside. It's worth checking out." He said casting a look over his shoulder at the others.

"Maybe it leads somewhere." Fang suggested, her interest piqued.

"I say we go inside." Vanille said with a smile and promptly stepped inside.

"Vanille!" Fang called out but was ignored by the girl.

Snow shrugged and grinned, pushing himself through the opening with minor effort. Hope shot the remaining three a last look before following the pair. Thankfully the cave turned out to gradually grow wider as soon as you got past the opening, making it easier for the adults to pass through, though Hope was still able to keep both hands on the both sides with ease, the coolness of the stone seeping through the fabric of his gloves. Snow's back kept him from seeing much, which annoyed him as he as well was curious about to see where the cave would end.

"There's nothing here." He eventually heard Vanille say with clear disappointment in her voice. "Just more stone and dirt." She huffed.

He couldn't help feeling disappointed as well, when seeing the bare walls and nothing especially out of the ordinary. Just a regular cave, and really, what had he been expecting? The only strange thing was the shape of it. It was nearly circular in shape and in fact a hole, not a cave which they'd initially thought. High above them the afternoon sun painted the sky in light orange and bright red nuances.

They were slowly joined by the others, Sazh gazing up at the sky with an impressed look.

"Long way up."

"And a long way down." Fang said. "What do you guys say? We set camp here?"

"Looks better than I thought." Lightening answered. "No large animals will be able to get through the opening."

"And only a fool would jump from that height." Fang pointed a thumb upwards with a half crooked smile.

Hope's eyes travelled across the walls again. He was tired, no doubt from last night's lack of sleep, and he distantly wondered whether he'd be able to sleep any better this night when something caught his eye. A small reflex of light in the stone and dirt wall glinted from a stray ray of light that found its way down. His curiosity reawakened he made his way over to the wall, clothed fingers grazing the surface carefully. A layer of dirt fell away from his touch and revealed a smooth surface of clear crystal. Eyebrows furrowing, he scrubbed the base of his palm over it and more dirt fell away to reveal more of the crystal.

"Hey guys!" He called while continuing to scrub and pull away the dirt. "I've found something!"

His excited voice brought the others over to him and there was mixed looks. Vanille seemed just as excited as Hope felt and she immediately started helping him with removing the dirt. She was not a girl who would care if she would get any dirt under her nails, as she loved the feel and smell of nature.

"What is it?" Sazh asked coming over, the small head of the chicken chocobo he housed in his afro peaking out.

"A crystal?" Lightening wondered with a frown.

Slowly but surely more of the crystal appeared until both Hope and Vanille stopped their movements with slight shock etched into their features.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sazh asked both amazed and worried.

"Move over kids." Snow said with authority and used his much larger hands to pull the, now much harder, dirt away.

They watched as what could only be a hand find its' way out of the wall as snow worked of freeing the crystal of its dirt cage. It came to show that what at first had caught Hope's attention must have been a shoulder.

"I'll be damned…" Sazh breathed out, astonished.

"I'll help." Fang said and used the point of her staff to get at the larger parts, prying and bending it carefully so as not to hurt the crystal itself.

It took them some time, and sweat, but they eventually had freed enough of the crystal to be able to make out the shape of a human. They'd already figured out that it was a human, naturally. The question though was…

"What is a crystallized l'Cie doing buried in a wall in the middle of nowhere?" Sazh eyed them all with a questioning look.

"How'd it get here?" Lightening asked.

"Who knows?" Fang said with a shrug. "Let's get him out first."

"Right." Snow went back on working to get the l'Cie completely out.

When the crystal was almost completely free the blond male took a hold of it and pulled the rest of it loose. Fang helped him carry the crystal closer to the middle where they set it down carefully. Questions were running wild in their heads. They didn't know what to make of it.

"Just like Serah…" Snow said lowly, stroking once over the smooth surface.

"And Dajh." Sazh let out equally low.

"What do you think happened to him?" Vanille asked them, voice solemn and thoughtful.

"Who knows?" Her dark haired companion answered.

Hope stepped up to the crystal, taking in the calm almost serene face the male had, or rather young man he was able to deduce on closer inspection. The crystal boy had his feet completely rooted in a crystal base that had taps of blue crystal shooting up from it and covering up the boy's lower parts. He appeared to be naked and his right hand was slightly raised as if reaching for something.

"How long do you think he's been asleep?"

He moved closer, a sudden interest rising inside to know more about the boy. Who was he? What was his story?

"Again, who knows. Vanille and I spent centuries as crystals but that's no assurance it's the general norm."

"No use wondering about it." Lightening said then.

"Are you saying we just leave him?" Sazh asked her.

"We don't know when he's going to wake up and we can't carry the crystal around with us. What do you propose we do?" She sent him a meaningful look.

"I suppose you're right." The dark skinned man amended, albeit reluctantly.

"There's nothing we can do?" Vanille asked, looking sad and troubled on the crystallized boy's behalf.

"We can always come back for him when all this is over." Snow tried to reassure her.

"And when is that?" Hope asked pointedly, finding himself not really wanting to leave the boy's crystal here where anything could find it. And who said they would ever be coming back to this place if they themselves turned into crystal in the end, or worse died?

A somber silence swept over them. Snow sighed heavily, bringing his arms back and up behind his head, walking away from the group.

"Let's just rest while we can." Fang said, breaking off the silence.

The adults left Hope and Vanille standing by the crystal to prepare their makeshift beds. The blond, almost silver, haired boy turned back to watching the older boy in the crystal.

"I wonder what happened to him?" Hope wondered quietly. "What was his Focus?"

"He must have completed it though." Vanille tried with a small sad smile. "That's good right?"

"Better than becoming a Cieth I guess."

Vanille lowered her eyes.

"Yeah."

There weren't much more conversation going after that. They retired to sleep shortly after, Hope offering to take the first watch. Lightening seemed hesitant of letting him do that but the boy's argument of the low chance of anything real dangerous getting to them here forced her to back down. That, and the others' reassurances of the fact.

There were two reasons why Hope wanted to take the first shift. First, he doubted he would be able to sleep much and second, his thoughts concerning the crystallized boy would've kept him awake anyway. When he was sure all of them was asleep he slowly and carefully rose to his feet and walked over to the crystal's side again.

The boy had the same expression of strange serenity, his eyes closed and face relaxed. Hope liked to think that that was evidence that the older boy had been at least, somewhat, at ease or happy at the time of the completion of his Focus. That the fate of being subjected to a near eternal sleep wasn't that bad, and it wasn't like they really died, right? Vanille and Fang were living proof of that after all. So this boy would wake up too. Question was only when.

Hope drew up his knees, wounding his arms around them.

"I don't know." He mumbled, after a few minutes, head lowered. "Is this the only fate I have now? To sleep for an eternity and maybe wake up after a few centuries if I'm lucky…?"

He could hear Snow's snoring behind him and the low, quieter, breathing of the rest. It was oddly comforting. That was the only thing he heard, until there was a near silent whining noise that seemed to grow in volume.

Hope looked up and his eyes immediately widened in surprise and shock.

The boy, or rather the crystal he was in, was shining, brightly, and the light instantly woke up the others. Their noises of confusion were overridden by the sound of thousands of light clinking noises brought together. Slowly the crystals surface began to shimmer and fade away, revealing soft and light skin and raven black hair that whipped as if blown by a strong current of wind.

In the midst of all this Vanille found her way up to Hope, who'd backpedalled at the first sight of the shining crystal, and she held her hands to her face and chest.

"He's waking up." She said astonished.

"Waking up?" Hope echoed, voice raised and head swiveling once back and forth between her and the awakening boy.

The group lined up besides Hope and Vanille, stances weary but faces expressing various degrees of awe at the sight.

Like running water the crystal surface gave way to human skin and when it had gotten down to his chest the boy's eyes opened, exposing deep forest green orbs. The boy's mouth moved slowly as the pieces of crystal concealing his lower parts shrunk away, disappearing into thin air and he was left hanging in the air. Liquid light then covered his body again, molding itself to it and when the light died away the boy's body was now covered with clothes. He wore a simple white shirt, with a red and gold tie, beneath a gray jumper with a stitched animal on the front and black trousers and shoes. The clothing surprised more people than just Hope. It was not the kind of clothing that one would find lying around in Gran Pulse, rather on a school student on Cocoon. In fact, Hope had one of similar design though more of a dark blue color at home.

The boy's eyes closed again and his body sunk to the ground where he ended up lying. The group let out a collective breath that they've been holding but no one immediately made to move closer to the boy out cold on the ground.

Seconds stretched until Hope slowly rose to his feet, his curiosity and interest getting the better of his initial apprehension.

"Hope, wait." Lightening tried but she was too late, her hand just missing his shoulder.

Hope came to kneel down over the older boy, keeping a certain distance as if to pacify the woman, and waited for any reactions. The raven haired boy groaned then, his voice a mix of dark and light, and his body moved drunkenly. He managed to roll around and get himself up on all fours, steadying himself before he leaned back to sit on his heels. A hand found its way into his hair, holding his head while he shook it as if to get rid of the last sleepiness. Deep green eyes opened again at last and focused on Hope, who happened to find himself kneeling right in front of the older boy.

"Where am I?" The boy asked, his voice laced with an accent they'd never heard before.

"Gran Pulse." Hope answered for him automatically, feeling that the question was directed at him.

"…gran…pulse…" The boy repeated slowly. "Uhm, where exactly is that?" He asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"You don't know?" Hope replied surprised.

Sure the majority of the citizens in Cocoon had never actually laid eyes on Gran Pulse, but everyone knew the name of it at the least.

"Are all of the people in Cocoon this slow and ignorant?" Fang asked out loud. She'd apparently made the assumption that the boy had to be from Cocoon judging from the way he dressed. They'd all assumed that.

However the boy's response to this shocked them even more.

"What is cocoon?"

"You gotta be kidding me…" Snow said, shaking his head.

"Do you think he's lost his memory?" Vanille tried.

"I haven't lost my memory. I remember everything perfectly." He said sounding slightly miffed.

"And what do you remember?" Lightening asked, stepping forward.

"I remember-" The boy started, but cut himself off. His face contorted into an expression of sadness and pain. The hand in his hair tensed and his other dug into his trousers.

"They're…all dead." He said finally, voice empty. "My friends…"

The others looked at him with degrees of sympathy.

"It'll be okay." Hope said.

Forest green eyes switched between Hope and the group.

"Who are you people anyway?" He asked after a moment.

"I'm Hope." He smiled friendly when the raven haired boy's eyes landed on him again.

Vanille took a step forward, presenting herself and happily everyone else in their group respectively.

"I'm Vanille. Over there's Fang, Sazh, Lightening and Snow."

"Hey there." Snow greeted with a crooked grin and a wave of the hand while the other three offered nods of the head.

"Harry." The boy nodded back in response. "You said this place was called gran pulse. Weird name that, where exactly in England is that? Because we are still in England right?" The boy added uncertainly at the confused looks he was getting from the party.

"Eng-land?" Hope queried, casting a look over his shoulders at the others who shrugged or shook their heads.

The boy frowned.

"You know, England? The British Isles?" He tried.

"You sure you didn't hit your head or something?" Snow wondered.

The boy, Harry, frowned harder and for the first time took a better look around at his surroundings, perhaps hoping to find some clue as to his whereabouts. There was nothing to see though except for the walls around them and the small fire burning in the center behind the group.

"I'm starting to think I've gotten myself into even more trouble." He mumbled half to himself.

"How long did you sleep?" Lightening asked, making the others raise their eyebrows in concern.

"Sleep? I don't know, couldn't be more than a couple of hours…"

He was interrupted by a startled laugh made by Fang.

"A couple of hours? You've got to have been in crystal sleep for _much_ longer than that if your crystal had even gotten buried beneath dirt and stone."

"My, _crystal_?" Harry queried.

"Yes, after completing your Focus you turn into crystal. Remember?" Vanille supplied.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, still frowning.

"Your Focus, the one the fal'Cie gave you, you've got to have had a Focus for you to turn into crystal." Fang said roughly, running out of patience.

"Seriously, I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"He must have lost his memories. There's no other explanation." Sazh said.

The raven haired boy rose to his feet in a rush, swaying for a moment before finding his footing.

"I find that hard to believe since I distinctly remember the dead faces of my friends!"

"Then how do you explain you not knowing anything about the fal'Cie and your Focus?" Fang argued.

"I…" The teen faltered, momentary anger washing away for confusion.

"What happened before you turned into crystal?" Vanille spoke softly.

The boy seemed a bit tense.

"I don't know, last thing I remember…I'd just cursed Voldemort, I'd killed him, then…then what?" Uncertainty was etched into his features.

"Must have been your Focus. Killing that guy, I mean." Sazh concluded.

Harry's eyes alighted.

"Oh. I get it. By focus you're talking about a prophecy."

"Uh, no." Sazh said, frowning lightly.

"A prophecy?" Hope asked.

The boy's looks darkened.

"To kill Voldemort or be killed myself by him. It was made before I was even born."

"Hold on." Lightening interrupted, the others sharing her sentiment. "That can't be right."

"Or we're talking about two different things." Fang suggested and continued. "Where's your brand?"

"Brand?"

"A mark of some sorts. Somewhere on your body." She explained.

"Don't have one."

"You gotta have one!" Snow let out.

"I only have this scar." The boy raised a hand and lifted his raven bangs to reveal a zigzag scar above his right eye. The, so called, scar were dark onyx in color "And this I've had since I was born."

"Is that a brand?" Sazh asked Fang.

"Could be." Fang said. "All fal'Cie have different brands."

"But he's saying he's had it since he was born. L'Cie isn't given that much time to complete their Focus. It doesn't make sense." Lightening argued.

"No, it doesn't." Fang nodded. "Unless, the fal'Cie that branded him happened gave him more time."

"Well, that's fair." Sazh grumbled to himself.

During all this Hope kept his eyes on the older boy, if not more curious and interested in him than before the dark haired boy's confusing revelations. There was strengthened hope in his eyes. This boy seemed to contradict many things he'd been told about the fal'Cie and his brand so far. Maybe they did have more time than they thought they did?

"One thing's sure though, the fal'Cie that branded him must have needed him for something again. Reason he woke up." Fang continued.

"And what would that be? You think it has something to do with us?" Sazh folded his arms in front of himself, wary again.

"Could be. We dug him out, and in the next he's waking up. Sure, could just be a coincident too." She added but it didn't sound like she believed much in that.

"So he's coming with us?" Hope asked and there was a layer of hopefulness in the question.

"Of course. We can't just leave him here." Snow said, shrugging.

"We don't know him." The stoic woman said, eyeing the raven haired boy. She had yet to collect her thoughts and decide herself what to do about him.

"Come on Lightening." Hope pleaded. "He's got nowhere to go."

Harry looked from Hope to the woman called Lightening, his eyes staying on her. Hope's pleading ones boring into her.

Lightening frowned lightly, her eyebrows coming together the slightest to show her inner struggle. She seemed to be internally weighting the options.

"Can you defend yourself?" She finally asked the older boy.

"Of course." The boy said. "I have my magic."

She raised an eyebrow as the boy fished out a stick of wood, but neglected to comment on it. She hoped she wasn't going to regret her decision. Turning around the others seemed to take this as a dismissal and went back to their cots. Vanille offered the boy a smile before saying good night to the two of them, yawning and stretching an arm in the air before she made herself comfortable on her cot.

This left Hope, still kneeling on the ground, now looking up at the other boy as the dark haired youth absentmindedly twirled the wood in his hands between his fingers. Forest green eyes met pale ones when the boy turned around to look at Hope. Hope shifted so that he wasn't sitting on his knees anymore and the older boy seemed to take this as an invitation to sit down as well. He still twirled the object in his hand, watching its movements with a thoughtful look.

"What is it?" Hope asked, looking at the wood.

The boy stopped his twirling. Surprised eyes came to look at Hope again.

"Hope, was it, right?" He said for confirmation.

"Yeah." Hope said, smiling.

The boy seemed unable to help a return smile.

"It's my wand. I need it to do magic." He explained answering Hope's question.

The smaller of the two tilted his head.

"I don't need, a wand?, to use my magic." He said.

"You use wandless magic?" Harry asked him, sounding impressed.

Hope's cheeks tinted.

"I guess. No one of us needs one." He added hastily.

"Huh." Harry said and went back to eyeing the wood.

Hope fingered the fabric of his hands, hesitating for a moment before asking.

"Can you show me?"

Harry's eyes were once again pointed at Hope.

"Show you what?"

"How you use magic with your wand." Hope clarified.

The boy thought for a few seconds before shrugging.

"I suppose it can't hurt…I am of legal age now after all." He murmured the last part to himself.

He gripped the wood firmer, taking a moment to think again.

"Something simple then. _Lumos_."

Hope blinked when the tip of the wood began to glow and the two's faces were lit up from the light it gave off. The light was a bit stronger than the camp fire and the older boy held his hand so as to shield it from disturbing the other's sleep.

"Wow." Hope said leaning forward to get a closer look but the brightness caused his eyes to squint.

It disappeared after a short moment and Harry lowered it to rest on the ground beside his right knee.

The raven haired boy sighed once, using both his hands to lean backwards, his eyes sought out the night sky above them. The wind sounded outside and the first stars began to pop out one by one. Harry leant down on his back, arms spread out above his head. Unconsciously Hope laid down on his stomach beside the dark haired boy, head on his arms and his eyes watching the features and profile of the older one.

"Looks like I'm going to be here in this strange world for a while." The boy's voice whispered.

Hope couldn't help feeling content inside with that statement. He kept watching the boy long into the late hours of the night until sleep finally took him in its hold and for the first night in many he slept peacefully. Sure in his belief that the boy would be there when he woke up.

**Fin.**

**AN: **I quite like it. For once I got to completely satisfy one of my plot bunnies. Which is a shocker for me! I'm usually always left craving for more… So is this a good or a bad thing? Anyway, please leave a review if you liked it. /Lin


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